a first hand account of a young boy and three very hungry, and i should add caged, tigers

A while back, my youngest son and I went to a sportsman show. There was
an exhibit hall that was quite the hit with my young son. In this hall
there was a trout fishing pond, a shooting gallery, and several
exhibits of wild animals.
Now mind you there weren't many animal exhibits. There was a Kodiak
brown bear that looked like he overdosed on tranquilizer laced oreos.
The only signs of life were the rhythmic rising and falling on the
bear's huge chest and the occasional grunt. The bear reminded me of
couch potato at Thanksgiving. Then there were a couple of white tigers.
I'm really not sure if they were just placed in the wrong display. I'm
sure they were supposed to be in the taxidermy exhibit because they
showed no sign of life. Then there were three orange tigers of some
sort, and they too were also sleeping. I would have bet money that the
trainers of the animals in the exhibit had laced their food with some
sort of sedative to keep the animals so sluggish. Then came a little
boy named Trevor.
Now Trevor in his own right should have been tired. He was awakened at
five thirty in the morning to make the trek to the show. Even though he
was asked on several occasions to take a nap on the three-hour
excursion, he chattered incessantly for the entire trip. How can you
have an intelligent conversation with a four-year-old? Now almost
twelve hours later he would put the energizer bunny to shame. As Trevor
stepped over to the fence that separated the exhibit from the crowd, I
saw the first tiger blink. If I'm not mistaken I think he even licked
his lips. Most of the crowd was commenting on the lack of activity on
the animals' part. They apparently missed what I had just seen.
As Trevor walked around to the other side of the cage, the first tiger
was following the little boy's movements. He also gained the attention
of the second and third tiger. The first tiger rose to its feet and
started to stalk the young boy. There was no doubt in my mind what was
on tiger number one's mind, and that was lunch. The other two tiger, as
if on cue rose, and joined in the hunt. I saw what was happening and
told his cousin to go over to the other side of the cage and call
Trevor. Trevor heard his named and raced over to his cousin. He was
followed closely by three tigers. The crowd became alive with
excitement. I called Trevor back and the tigers in turn whirled and
chased the boy. His cousin now aware what was going on called him back,
Trevor spun toward the cage, and realized that the tigers were chasing
him. He stopped and the first tiger lunged at the cage.
Trevor now realized the game was on. He started running back and forth,
dodging to and fro, and goading the caged tigers. The crowd was now
urging the young boy on. He had the tigers lunging at their cage. They
were swiping their massive paws at a quarry that was beyond their
reach. They were falling all over themselves in an attempt to get at
the child. They were snarling at their elusive prey, and yet the
energizer bunny kept on going and going and going and going.
After about five minutes of the game the youngster gave out. He went up
and sat on the bleachers. The crowd in appreciation of the show the
young boy put on for them came over and tousled his hair. The tigers
were pacing in their enclosure, eyeing the crowd for their elusive
prey. They had worked up an appetite and did not want to be denied.
As the young boy walked away from the cage, three sets of eyes followed
him. As I looked back over my shoulder, what Trevvy considered a game,
was a hunt for those caged animals. I could only shudder to think what
might have happened in the wild. In the wild, my little Trevvy would
have been nothing more than an afternoon snack for three very hungry
tigers
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